Hey guys, I have recently been posting a lot about my young midland painted turtles and the water in their tank is currently being exposed to some chilly temperatures at night; at first, I didn't think they needed a water heater because the room they are kept in is relatively warm and in the past months it hasn't been very cold outside. I also wanted to maintain a good temperature gradient so that they could effectively thermoregulate within their captive environment (i.e. basking on their platform to heat up and then plopping into the water to cool down and forage for food).

But now, this time of year, since it is growing colder and colder every day and the room they are kept in has a good amount of windows, I was wondering if anyone (maybe you Linda?)would have some suggestions as to what kind of water heater I could buy and use in the tank with the baby turtles. I know that all glass heaters are not preferred for use with aquatic turtles because they have the tendency to break if the turtle(s) become too rambunctious and hyper/over-active, somehow hitting the heater. I have seen a neat little submersible water heater in a Docter's Foster and Smith catalogue that had the heater encased in a plastic protective tubing, allowing the heat to pass through to the water, but preventing the turtle(s) from coming into close contact with the heater and possibly burning itself/themselves. I thought it was a great heater to get until I discovered that you cannot manually regulate the temperature on the heater. It stays at a constant 78 degrees Fahrenheit and cannot be lowered or highered. This is a drawback to an item that seemed so practical and safe to use around aquatic turtles. I know that my painteds' water should be kept at a temperature of 70-76 degrees Fahrenheit, with the basking area being between 85-90 degrees. But that's where the problem arises. Seventy-eight degrees seems a little bit too warm in the water for them to effectively thermoregulate and have the desire to emerge from the water onto their basking platform. So, as a result, I was thinking of buying a water heater in which I could change the heat output(either lower it or higher it) so that I could more effectively regulate their environment. What do you think? What should I do and do you agree with my logic concerning the regulation of water temperature?

I hope that some of you guys can respond a.s.a.p. so that I can get the water temperature of the turtles' tank up to a favorable level quickly. Again, any suggestions are welcomed and I hope to hear from you guys soon. Thanks

_Dennis

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